Max Vadukul
Encyclopedia
Max Vadukul is a photographer who has worked mostly in America
. He is noted for his fashion photography, portraits published in The New Yorker
and many covers for Rolling Stone
magazine.
, educated in England and lived for a time in Paris. At age 16 he ran away to escape an arranged marriage. Vadukul's first success came when David Puttnam
asked him to take a photograph of his assistant.
In 1984 Vadukul was employed as a photographer by Japan
ese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto
whose young art director Marc Ascoli was looking for young, beginning photographers. Vadukul asked for a cash advance with which to buy a camera, then took black-and-white images in Manhattan
for the project. Vadukul began taking photographs for The Face in the early 1980s and also worked for the French, American and Italian editions of Vogue
. Much of his work is not credited aside from by-lines in editorial mastheads. Vadukal's work has included photographs of Lisa Stansfield
, panoramic shots for Veuve Cliquot and manipulated colour images in advertisements for Chloé
.
In 1985, Vadukul also branched into video and television commercial directing with an award-winning advertisement for Williwear called The Expedition. He has cited Stanley Kubrick
's evolution from still photography into film directing as a career model.
Vadukul has said he rejects a Pre-Raphaelite image of women in his work, seeing modern women instead as "powerful, aggressive." At times his work has strayed from straightforward documentation of fashion and has not been published. His preference for black-and-white photography has also been a commercial hindrance.
In a 1992 interview for Frieze
, Vadukul noted his need to keep the fashion world at a distance, describing it as "a very immature business... It’s for young people—your audience is sixteen to twenty-year-old girls... Fashion photography can swallow you up with its champagne and caviar lifestyle." He said photography was his priority, recalling, "I started off travelling the world, taking documentary pictures—I never looked at fashion magazines. I happen to like women, and for me it is very rewarding to document the woman of today; but I am just as happy to photograph cars or hi-fis."
, reportedly edging out Helmut Newton
and Richard Avedon
there. He gained access to Nelson Mandela
by asking for help from Naomi Campbell
and later recalled Mandela "was at her knees." Vadukul's first book Max combined both portraiture and fashion images. In 2000 he told The New York Times
, "I like labels. The pants are Prada ... socks are Paul Smith ... I'm not antifashion. I like fashion."
A documentary called Self-Portrait: Max Vadukul (2000) was produced by the National Geographic Channel
. Vadukul described it as "not an MTV, or VH1 kind of thing ... It's more serious." The documentary examined his catalogue photography for Victoria's Secret
and his regular work for publications such as Mademoiselle
, GQ
and other Condé Nast
magazines along with portraits of a wide range of subjects, attributing Vadukul with "a smart, fast, and wry style borne of a personal history that reads like a novel." Vadukal has shot at least a dozen covers for Rolling Stone
magazine and has also worked for Italian Vogue, Vogue Hommes International, i-D, Chloé and Armani.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He is noted for his fashion photography, portraits published in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
and many covers for Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine.
Early life and career
Vadukul was born to Indian parents in NairobiNairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
, educated in England and lived for a time in Paris. At age 16 he ran away to escape an arranged marriage. Vadukul's first success came when David Puttnam
David Puttnam
David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE, FRSA is a British film producer. He sits on the Labour benches in the House of Lords, although he is not principally a politician.-Early life:...
asked him to take a photograph of his assistant.
In 1984 Vadukul was employed as a photographer by Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto
Yohji Yamamoto
Yōji Yamamoto , is an award winning Japanese fashion designer based in Tokyo and Paris. Yohji is considered to be among the master tailors whose work is thought to be of fashion genius and he has been described by Julie Gilhart, fashion director for Barney's New York as probably the only designer...
whose young art director Marc Ascoli was looking for young, beginning photographers. Vadukul asked for a cash advance with which to buy a camera, then took black-and-white images in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
for the project. Vadukul began taking photographs for The Face in the early 1980s and also worked for the French, American and Italian editions of Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
. Much of his work is not credited aside from by-lines in editorial mastheads. Vadukal's work has included photographs of Lisa Stansfield
Lisa Stansfield
Lisa Stansfield is an English singer and songwriter.-Early years:Stansfield was born to Marion and Keith Stansfield in Heywood, Lancashire, in England, where she attended Redbrook School, Rochdale. Her first television appearance was on a talent programme in the Granada TV area in 1982...
, panoramic shots for Veuve Cliquot and manipulated colour images in advertisements for Chloé
Chloé
Chloé is a French fashion house founded in 1952 by Gaby Aghion. Its headquarters is in Paris.-History:Gaby Aghion was born in Alexandria, Egypt in the year 1921...
.
In 1985, Vadukul also branched into video and television commercial directing with an award-winning advertisement for Williwear called The Expedition. He has cited Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
's evolution from still photography into film directing as a career model.
Vadukul has said he rejects a Pre-Raphaelite image of women in his work, seeing modern women instead as "powerful, aggressive." At times his work has strayed from straightforward documentation of fashion and has not been published. His preference for black-and-white photography has also been a commercial hindrance.
In a 1992 interview for Frieze
Frieze (magazine)
-Publication:frieze is published eight times a year and is based in London. As well as essays, exhibition reviews and columns by forward-thinking writers, artists, critics and curators, the magazine includes music reviews, artist projects, interviews and sections on design and...
, Vadukul noted his need to keep the fashion world at a distance, describing it as "a very immature business... It’s for young people—your audience is sixteen to twenty-year-old girls... Fashion photography can swallow you up with its champagne and caviar lifestyle." He said photography was his priority, recalling, "I started off travelling the world, taking documentary pictures—I never looked at fashion magazines. I happen to like women, and for me it is very rewarding to document the woman of today; but I am just as happy to photograph cars or hi-fis."
Later career
In the 1990s Vadukul mostly photographed portraits for The New YorkerThe New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, reportedly edging out Helmut Newton
Helmut Newton
Helmut Newton, born Helmut Neustädter was a German-Australian photographer. He was a "prolific, widely imitated fashion photographer whose provocative, erotically charged black-and-white photos were a mainstay of Vogue and other publications."-Early life:Newton was born in Berlin, the son of Klara...
and Richard Avedon
Richard Avedon
Richard Avedon was an American photographer. An obituary published in The New York Times said that "his fashion and portrait photographs helped define America's image of style, beauty and culture for the last half-century."-Photography career:Avedon was born in New York City to a Jewish Russian...
there. He gained access to Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
by asking for help from Naomi Campbell
Naomi Campbell
Naomi Campbell is a British model. Scouted at the age of 15, she established herself among the top three most recognisable and in-demand models of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and she was one of six models of her generation declared "supermodels" by the fashion world...
and later recalled Mandela "was at her knees." Vadukul's first book Max combined both portraiture and fashion images. In 2000 he told The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, "I like labels. The pants are Prada ... socks are Paul Smith ... I'm not antifashion. I like fashion."
A documentary called Self-Portrait: Max Vadukul (2000) was produced by the National Geographic Channel
National Geographic Channel
National Geographic Channel, also commercially abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo, is a subscription television channel that airs non-fiction television programs produced by the National Geographic Society. Like History and the Discovery Channel, the channel features documentaries with factual...
. Vadukul described it as "not an MTV, or VH1 kind of thing ... It's more serious." The documentary examined his catalogue photography for Victoria's Secret
Victoria's Secret
Victoria's Secret is an American retailer of women's wear, lingerie and beauty products. It is the largest segment of publicly-traded Limited Brands with sales of over US$5 billion and an operating income of $1 billion in 2006...
and his regular work for publications such as Mademoiselle
Mademoiselle (magazine)
Mademoiselle was an influential women's magazine first published in 1935 by Street and Smith and later acquired by Condé Nast Publications....
, GQ
GQ (magazine)
GQ is a monthly men's magazine focusing on fashion, style, and culture for men, through articles on food, movies, fitness, sex, music, travel, sports, technology, and books...
and other Condé Nast
Condé Nast Publications
Condé Nast, a division of Advance Publications, is a magazine publisher. In the U.S., it produces 18 consumer magazines, including Architectural Digest, Bon Appétit, GQ, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and Vogue, as well as four business-to-business publications, 27 websites, and more than 50 apps...
magazines along with portraits of a wide range of subjects, attributing Vadukul with "a smart, fast, and wry style borne of a personal history that reads like a novel." Vadukal has shot at least a dozen covers for Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine and has also worked for Italian Vogue, Vogue Hommes International, i-D, Chloé and Armani.
Books
- Max: Photographs by Max Vadukul. New York: Callaway Publications, 2000.
- Crazy Horse. New York: Piccolo Press, 2001.
External links
- Vadukul's website (unusable without Flash)
- Max Vadukul's Portfolio at Art Department
- Examples of Vadukul's work at an online photographers agency
- Max Vadukul at Contour Photos (PDF file)
- Article on photography, including a Vadukul "leaping woman", New York Times.